


There's This Bridge in Brooklyn For Sale

by orange_8_hands



Series: Popsicle Sticks [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Teen Wolf (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/M, Gen, Identity Issues, M/M, Mindwiping, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Acceptance, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:30:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orange_8_hands/pseuds/orange_8_hands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"</p><p>"Yeah?" Scott says.</p><p>"Is this payback?"  </p><p>[Captain America/Teen Wolf Fusion]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. trigger

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by quigonejinn's Marvel works, specifically [The Finish Line](http://archiveofourown.org/works/386399), and some dialogue is lifted directly from the Marvel movies & Teen Wolf. To clarify tags: This is a Skittles story, and all other relationships (and even a lot of the other characters) are secondary.
> 
> TW: canon violence/character deaths, mind wiping/replanting, mentions of torture, PTSD, disableist language
> 
> spoilers: Teen Wolf S3A, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, kind of for Captain America: Winter Soldier (that section isn't true to the movie - since the movie isn't out yet, and it's not even how I think the movie is going to go - but it does mention some comic canon, the trailer, and a leaked scene.)

  
Stiles elbows Scott as they look out onto the tracks below.  
  
Stiles asks, "Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"  
  
"Yeah?" Scott says.  
  
"Is this payback?"  
  
       ***  
When they're five their fathers become partners at work. Their mothers are friendly, and arrange schedules to help each other out. They spend most of their afternoons together, and Scott and Stiles get along like a house on fire - Scott is the house, and Stiles is the fire.  
  
       ***  
"Recruits, attention. I am Agent Argent. I supervise all operations for this division."   
  
"Yeah, what's with the accent, huh? Thought I was signing up for the _U.S._ Army?"  
  
Agent Argent pauses from inspecting the line. "What's your name, soldier?"  
  
"Matt Daehler."  
  
"Step forward, Daehler."  
  
He smirks as he does so. "Now I'm usually not that kind of boy, but - "  
  
Agent Argent punches him.  
  
(Scott smiles to himself.)  
  
       ***  
Training is...well, it's like dying, mostly, and being too stupid to realize it.  
  
      ***  
Colonel Finstock stands in front of them.  
  
"Mankind - that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We're going to live on. We're going to survive. The Strategic Scientific Reserve is an allied effort, made up with the best minds of the free world. Our goal is to create the best army in history. But every army starts with one person. Now you all suck...but some of you suck slightly less. And if I can find one of you better than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother, at the end of this week we will choose that person."  
  
       ***  
"You sure he's the right choice?"  
  
       ***  
"I'm looking for a Sergeant, he calls himself Stiles Stilinski."  
  
They start moving out of the cages. One of them says, "There's an isolation ward in the factory, but no one's ever come back from it."  
  
Scott just looks at them. "All right. The tree line is northwest, eighty yards past the gate. Get out fast, and give them hell. I'll meet you in the clearing with anybody else I find."  
  
He doesn't even pause for confirmation, just runs, tries using his advanced senses to find Stiles. It's only when he starts to chase after someone in an empty hallway that he hears it, Stiles voice pulling him into the room with less care than he should take.  
  
"Stiles," he says, clawing at the straps holding him down. "Stiles, it's me."  
  
"Scott?"  
  
"Hey, come on, Stiles." He pulls Stiles into a sitting position, whose face seems to clear the longer he looks at him.  
  
"Scott?"  
  
"I thought you were dead."  
  
"I thought you were less creature of the night. Seriously, what happened to you?"  
  
"I joined the army."  
  
There's a pause, and then, "Well it looks good on you. Now move back so I can stand up."  
  
Scott takes a small step back, waits for Stiles to swing his legs to the ground and put his weight on them, catching him before he falls.   
  
       ***  
"Did you read the report?"  
  
"Scott -"  
  
"Did you read the report?"  
  
Allison says nothing for a long time. There are a lot of reports she's read, including the ones buried by doctors examining the men after Scott McCall rescued them.  
  
Finally, she tells him quietly, "You need to stop blaming yourself, and allow the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it."  
  
Scott just watches the liquor in the bottle.  
  
  
       ***  
"I thought you were dead."  
  
"I thought you were less creature of the night. Seriously, what happened to you?"  
  
"I joined the army."  
  
There's a pause, and then, "Well it looks good on you. Now move back so I can stand up."  
  
Scott takes a small step back, waits for Stiles to swing his legs to the ground and put his weight on them, catching him before he falls.   
  
"And what did we learn from that failure?" Scott asks, swinging his arm around Stiles to help move him to the door.  
  
"Ha, yeah, wolf's got jokes tonight."  
  
By the time they make it to the door, Stiles is standing on his own. By the time they reach the ledge, Stiles is balanced enough to cross the thin beam by himself.  
  
       ***  
Consider torture, and what it _does_ to the body.  
  
       ***  
Scott watches the liquor in the bottle, less than a shot left and still not affecting him.  
  
"I'm going after Deucalion. I'm not going to stop 'til all of the Alpha Pack are dead, or captured."  
  
Allison places her hand on Scott's forearm and squeezes. "You won't be alone."  
  
       ***  
"So let's just clear this up," Danielle says. "We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?"  
  
"I want to put together the best team possible."  
  
Heather smiles. "That's fine with me. I'm in."  
  
The rest of the table nods until Scott is back looking at Danielle.  
  
"Well hell, you obviously need the help, I'm in. But you've got to do one thing for me."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Open a tab."  
  
Scott gets up, hears Danielle add, "Well that was easy." He pauses long enough to tell the bartender, then skirts around the tables until he reaches the side room where Stiles is sitting.  
  
"See? Told you. They're all idiots."  
  
"Well what about you? You ready to follow Captain America into the jowls of death?"  
  
       ***  
Stiles asks, "Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"  
  
"Yeah?" Scott says.  
  
"Is this payback?"  
  
"Now would I do that?"  
  
       ***  
"That's ten percent...twenty percent...thirty...that's forty percent. All signs are normal. That's fifty percent...sixty...seventy..."  
  
("No, no, don't shut it down. I can _do_ this.")  
  
"Eighty...ninety...that's one hundred percent!"  
  
(It's so easy, after everything else that happens that afternoon, to forget the screams.)   
  
"The asshole did it. How do you feel Scott?"  
  
       ***  
"Well what about you? You ready to follow Captain America into the jowls of death?"  
  
"Hell no. But that nerdy dude I know? Who never stopped trying to protect everybody he could? I'll follow him."  
  
       ***  
They attack the bases. Sometimes they go in through the front, Scott's shield reflecting the bullets. Sometimes they sneak around, and plant bombs that go off with perfect timing. Sometimes they gather information- from documents, from soldiers they capture, from snatches of overheard conversation.  
  
"You were right, the doctor is on the train. The Alpha Pack gave him permission to open up the throttle, so wherever he's going, they must need him bad."  
  
       ***  
"Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"  
  
       ***  
"Stiles! Hang on! Grab my hand!"  
  
       ***  
"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer a lot of people are going to die."  
  
(static)  
  
"Allison."  
  
(static)  
  
"This is my choice."  
  
(static)  
  
       ***  
"Is this payback?"


	2. interlude

"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, McCall. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"  
  
       ***  
"War isn't won by sentiment, Director."  
  
"No," Deaton says, "It's won by soldiers."  
  
       ***  
 _There are guns and flashes_ (punch) _and dirt and ice_ (punch) _coming too fast._  
  
 _Allison_. (punch) _This is my choice._ (punch)  
  
 _Remember when_ (punch) _we played Batman and Robin_ (punch) _and jumped off the roof_ (punch) _and you had an asthma attack?_  
  
Scott hits the bag so hard it tears open, crashing off its chain and landing across the room.  He drags it to the pile, grabs a fresh one and hooks it on.  
  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)  
  
       ***  
"I want to know why Jackson let us take him," Scott says. "He's not leading an army from here."  
  
"I don't think we should be focusing on Jackson," Derek says. "He's an abomination; who cares why he's doing it?"  
  
Danny turns to him. "Jackson may be beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother." Danny takes a step closer. " _I_ care."  
  
"Whatever," Erica says, waving a hand. "What about the Iridium? What do they need it for?"  
  
"It's a stabilizing agent." Lydia pauses in her prowling to stand before Boyd. "These uniforms are awful, I hope you realize that. Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD." She rolls her eyes at Danny. "No hard feelings, Fabio. You've got a mean swing. Also it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Jackson wants." She points a finger at one of the agents. "Really, should I be helping them get make up tips or something? The rest of the raw materials, Agent Lahey can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."  
  
Morrell frowns. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"  
  
"Last night," Lydia says. "I was bored."  
  
"Look, does Jackson need any particular kind of power source?" Scott asks.  
  
"He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to breakthrough the Coulomb barrier," Derek explains.   
  
"Well, unless he's figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Lydia adds. "Seriously, I could whip up a new uniform, just say the word. Highly effective and you won't look like an action figure."  
  
       ***  
  
"Oh fuck," Derek says, and in another place Isaac presses the button, engine exploding.  
  
       ***  
"Deaton didn't tell me he was calling you in," Scott says.  
  
"Yeah, there's a lot he doesn't tell you," Lydia says.  
  
       ***  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)  
  
       ***  
"I'm sorry," Scott says, and the thing about Scott was that he sounded like it.  
  
(The thing about Scott was that he meant it.)  
  
"He seemed like a good man," Scott continues.  
  
"Well, actually, he was an idiot," Lydia says.  
  
"Why? For believing?"  
  
"For taking on Jackson alone."  
  
"He was doing his job."  
  
"He was out of his league," Lydia says. "He should have waited." Her breath heaves. "He should have..."  
  
"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Lydia."  
  
She runs her fingers under her eyes, as if putting on new foundation to cover the bags. "Right, right. And it worked out so well for him."  
  
There's a long pause. "Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"  
  
She turns sharply. "We. Are. Not. Soldiers!" Her hands curl into fists. "I'm not marching to Deaton's fife."  
  
"Neither am I!" Scott says. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Jackson does. But right now we need to put it aside and get this done."  
  
       ***  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)  
  
       ***  
"Alright, we do this as a team. Jackson's gonna keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Lahey, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Martin, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash. Danny, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up. Reyes, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hale? Smash."  
  
       ***  
Boyd smiles. "Hey, Captain, it's nice to meet you."  
  
       ***  
("Director Deaton is no longer in command. Override order, 7 Oscar 11.")  
  
Morrell's eye catches on the computer monitor. "Sir, we got a bird in motion! Anyone on the deck, we have a rogue bird! We need to shut it down! Repeat! Take off is not authorized!"  
  
("7 Oscar 11 confirmed," Harris says, and takes the bird up.)  
  
"Fuck, Martin, you hearing me? We have a missile heading straight for the city."  
  
"How long?"  
  
       ***  
Boyd smiles. "Hey, Captain, it's nice to meet you."  
  
Scott smiles back and shakes his hand.  
  
"I mean, really nice. An honor, even. To meet you, officially. Cause, I mean, I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping...as in, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice."  
  
There's a pause.  
  
"Sorry. It's just, when I was a kid I used to pretend to be you. I wanted to be just like you. It's just...a huge honor to have you on board."  
  
"Well, I hope I'm the person for the job."   
  
       ***  
"And the Tesseract?"  
  
"The Tesseract is where it belongs: out of our reach."  
  
(Scott watches as Danny clasps the Tesseract in his hand and offers it to Jackson, who reluctantly takes the other end.)  
  
"I don't think you understand what you've started. Letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous."  
  
"They surely are. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it."  
  
       ***  
"I was playing something riskier," Deaton says. "There was an idea, Martin knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."  
  
       ***  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)  
  
       ***  
"Yeah, there's a lot he doesn't tell you," Lydia says.  
  
       ***  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)  
  
       ***  
"We got a hit on Jackson," Graeme says. "Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross match, seventy-nine percent."  
  
She points to the readings when Boyd comes up to the computer screen to get the location.   
  
"Captain?" Deaton says from behind. "You're up."  
  
       ***  
 _Is this payback?_ (punch)


	3. return

  
They're fifteen. Stiles drags Scott to a chair, pushing him into it as he starts to get up. "Stay and be quiet" he says, and makes quick work in grabbing the med kit and flipping it open on the table.  
  
The only sound is the rustling of supplies as Stiles cleans off his cuts. His face is uncharacteristically grave, silent as he tries to remove all the debris from Scott's wounds.  
  
"Stiles," Scott finally says as Stiles applies the last of the bandages.  
  
"What?" Stiles moves to the sink to wash his hands, tries to catch his breath because _Scott_ and _blood_ and _almost too late_.     
  
"Stiles, I'm fine."  
  
"Seriously, Scott," Stiles says, scrubbing at the blood under his nails, "Shut up."  
  
"Stiles, I'm okay I swe-"  
  
"No," Stiles interrupts, whirling around to point a finger in Scott's direction. Water runs down his arm, but better than something else. "You almost died, Scott. You. Almost. Died. That isn't okay, so just shut up."  
  
Stiles goes back to scrubbing his hands.  
  
"So what you're saying is I shouldn't step in again."  
  
Stiles glances over his shoulder. Scott just looks at him, like that's enough, like that's the cue to let everything slide until the next time Scott went all big damn hero on someone who was rude, or disrespectful, or mean.  
  
(Scott didn't believe he could stop all the bullies of the world; he just wished he _could_.)    
  
"Well," Stiles finally says, "Your heroism does make me very attracted to you."  
  
Scott smiles, with his dimples. "Ah, come on, shut up Stiles."  
  
"No seriously," Stiles says, turning away from the sink, hiding how his hands are shaking by drying them slowly on the towel. "Very attracted. Do you wanna just try making out for a sec? Just to see how it feels?"  
  
       ***  
The Red Room...well, even when you find the words to explain it, they don't let you keep them.  
  
       ***  
"Come on," Jennifer says, waving her hand. "You know this. I looked up the newsreels on you, Captain America. You were selling a story."  
  
"It was all they wanted me for, in the beginning. I was just trying to do what needed doing at the time, and selling war bonds was it."  
  
"No," Jennifer says. "Scott, have you seen the merchandise they still have you on? The museum exhibit? You were selling a story, and you did it well."  
  
"It was one I believed in."  
  
"Doesn't make it any less true." Jennifer pauses where Scott sits, considers the person in front of her. "Captain, to build a better world, sometimes means turning the old one down." She puts her hand on the table, just next to where his arm rests, the pale pink of her nails like an exclamation point. "Scott, you need to decide what story you want to tell this time, and if you want it to be the same one SHIELD does."   
  
       ***  
"Is this payback?" ( _punch_ )  
  
       ***  
Scott stares through the observation window. Stiles leans against the chair, smirking through the heavy handcuffs attaching him to the bolted chair and table. Two guards stand catty corner and hold guns pointed directly at him.  
  
The Agent spreads her hands, raises an eyebrow.  
  
"We know you're the Winter Soldier."  
  
"You know, I tried talking them into a different codename. Abominable Snowman. Cool, right? I mean, it's seasonal, more of a winter thing," and Stiles teeth flash, "But Russia is all about those long winters."  
  
       ***  
(History is written by the winners.)  
  
       ***  
"Hey," Harley offers as Scott finally slows his marathon and starts to run beside her at regular human speeds.  
  
"Hi, Harley," Scott says, sweaty but not breathing hard.  
  
"So what's new on your list today?"  
  
Scott pulls out an actual notepad. "The Lopside?"  
  
"Famous bar in California. Hit the news a few years back because of a money laundering scheme."  
  
"Hannah Huang?"  
  
"Singer. You'd like her beats."  
  
"The Annual Beads Convention?"  
  
Harley slides a glance at Scott. "You already googled this shit, didn't you?"  
  
Scott smiles.  
  
       ***  
"You're funny," the Agent says. "And you don't seem to have any problem taking credit for your wet work. But what about before that?"  
  
Stiles rolls his eyes. "Yeah, okay, I'll play. What 'before that'?" He adds the finger quotes gesture as much as the handcuffs will let him.  
  
"Your work with Captain America, for instance."  
  
       ***  
Removing memories is old technology. The Red Room just...twists.  
  
       ***  
Stiles swallows hard. "Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"  
  
"Yeah?" Scott says, smirking.  
  
"Is this payback?" Stiles asks, looking at the drop.  
  
       ***  
Scott jumps out the window, rolls, and throws his shield at the running man.  
  
At the last minute he turns, catches it with his left hand.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that, Captain America."  
  
Scott takes a hard step back, mouth dropping open. "Stiles?"  
  
       ***  
"Is this payback?" ( _punch_ )  
  
       ***  
"Your work with Captain America, for instance."  
  
Stiles mouth twists. "Ah yes, your hero. He has a wonderful code of ethics, positively barbaric."   
  
"So you remember him, then?"  
  
"I remember _everything_."  
  
       ***  
"I signed on with SHIELD because I thought it would be my best way of protecting people," Scott says.  
  
Jennifer lets out a weary sigh. "Scott, it's okay to be wrong."  
  
       ***  
Scott leaves the observation room, heads down to one of the gyms that has the reinforced punching bags. He sets one up, finds the rhythm quickly.   
  
"Captain."  
  
Scott looks up. Erica is on the bench near him, fiddling with one of her knives.  
  
"Erica? You okay?"  
  
"Fine." She looks directly at Scott. "I just wanted to let you know Boyd is still alive."  
  
Scott freezes. Voice strangled, he asks, "Boyd's still alive? But, the trading cards, and Deaton said..."  
  
Erica just looks at him. "You shouldn't be that surprised about what SHIELD would do."  
  
       ***  
Jennifer lets out a weary sigh. "Scott, it's okay to be wrong. What matters is what you do about it once you know."  
  
       ***  
Scott doesn't say anything.  
  
"Scott," Erica says. "Think about it. Remember when you found Phase 2? Is this really a surprise?"  
  
Scott wants to say something, about it being better, about them being the good side, about manipulation, but before he can the alarm starts blaring.  
  
Erica cocks her head, listening to her earpiece for a second before heading out, calling over her shoulder, "The Winter Soldier escaped."  
  
       ***  
"That was Stiles," Scott tells Deaton. "You think I wouldn't recognize him? The Winter Soldier is Stiles."  
  
"The Winter Soldier is a threat."  
  
Scott steps into his space, looming. "The Winter Soldier is my best friend." He looks at Deaton, something like shock beginning to spread on his face. "Did you _know_?"  
  
"The assignment is the same. Bring him in or put him down. Do your job, Captain."  
  
       ***  
Scott points the Cube at Stiles. "Remember. Remember the _truth_."  
  
Stiles whole body shudders, and then he turns, throws up. Scott rushes to him, trying to lift him up. "Come on, we need to leave. Now."  
  
"Scott," he says, shaky, one hand touching Scott's cheek gently. "Scott," and it's a plea.  
  
"We're okay, but we need to leave. I have a safe space for us. Jennifer Blake."  
  
And Stiles still looks wrecked. "Scott, Jennifer Blake is the one who hired me."  
  
       ***  
"What did you think this was?" Harley asks. "They're only the good side in comparison."  
  
       ***  
"And you thought, what?" Scott asks Jennifer. "That I would think you were right?"   
  
"Change is only good if you stick with it, Scott. But you haven't. You're in the same place you always were, the same place I am. We're overlooked. It's a mistake SHIELD made just as much as the Alpha Pack. Stand with me, Scott. Stand with me and help me teach these monsters that monstrous actions should never be overlooked."  
  
"Yeah, that's not gonna work for me." Scott steps forward. "You should understand. I don't like bullies, no matter where they're from."  
  
       ***  
"You knew that's how this whole thing was going to play out, didn't you?" Scott asks.   
  
"I believed," Deaton corrects. "From the moment I knew the Winter Soldier was out, I believed."  
  
Scott glances at Stiles. "We're gonna go on a road trip. See what's changed in the last seventy years. I suggest you don't follow."  
  
"And if we need Captain America?"  
  
Scott smiles. "If you need me, Martin can get in contact."  
  
Deaton mouth twitches. "Wonderful."  
  
       ***  
Stiles elbows Scott as they look out onto the tracks below.  
  
Stiles asks, "Remember when we played Batman and Robin and jumped off the roof and you had an asthma attack?"  
  
"Yeah?" Scott says.  
  
"Is this payback?"  
  
"Now would I do that?"  
  
Stiles points a finger at him. "Yeah, Scott, you would, actually, cause you're a little shit."  
  
"A big shit now," Scott says. "And I still have nothing on you."  
  
Stiles pretends to contemplate the matter. "Well, there's that."  
  
Scott smiles, with his dimples, and Stiles smiles back.


End file.
